Washington– Washington (AFP) – Republican Senator Which effectively prevented confirmation of President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the party Federal Reserve He said on Sunday that he would drop his opposition yet The Ministry of Justice ended its investigation Subordinate Current head of the central bank.
The announcement by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina removes a major hurdle to Trump’s confirmation efforts Kevin Warsha former high-ranking Federal Reserve official, replaced Jerome Powell, who had long been under pressure from the White House. Low interest rates. Tillis’s opposition was enough to derail the nomination in the GOP-controlled Senate Banking Committee, as Powell neared the scheduled end of his term on May 15.
“I’m ready to move forward with confirming Mr. Warsh. I think he’s going to be a great chairman of the Fed,” Tillis told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” two days after the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia announced that her office’s investigation into the multibillion-dollar renovations of the Fed’s buildings had concluded. Powell’s brief testimony before Congress last summer about this work was also under review.
The Federal Reserve’s internal oversight body is examining a project now worth $2.5 billion, down from previous estimates at $1.9 billion, which was allocated by the Republican president. Criticism for cost overruns. Powell made the request last July Inspector General review.
“I think there won’t be any wrongdoing,” he said. “Maybe we’ll find some stupidity here in terms of someone in charge of the project making a decision they shouldn’t? Maybe. But it doesn’t rise to the level of a criminal prosecution. That was my problem initially because I feel like there were prosecutors in D.C. who thought this would be leverage to get Mr. Powell to leave early.”
Tillis, who angered Trump in June for opposing a large tax bill and spending cuts over Medicaid cuts, then announced He will not seek re-election In 2026, he added, he received assurances from the Department of Justice that “the case has been fully and completely settled… and that the only way to open an investigation is a criminal referral from one of our most respected inspectors general.”
The committee said on Saturday that it intends to vote on Wednesday on Warsh’s nomination. The senior Democratic senator, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, responded with a statement that “no Republican who claims to care about the independence of the Fed should support moving forward with the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who demonstrated in his nomination hearing that he is nothing more than a sock puppet for President Trump.”
Also Wednesday, Federal Reserve policymakers will meet and are expected to keep their key interest rate unchanged for the third straight meeting, ignoring Trump’s demands for a rate cut. At a news conference, Powell could indicate whether he will remain on the Fed’s Board of Governors after his term ends, an unusual but not entirely unprecedented move that would deny Trump the chance to take another seat on the seven-member board. Powell’s term as governor continues until January 2028.
At a hearing last week, Warsh told senators he never promised the White House he would lower interest rates and pledged to be an “independent actor” if he was confirmed as president. Hours earlier, Trump was asked in an interview with CNBC whether he would be disappointed if Warsh did not immediately cut interest rates. “I will,” said the President.
Without the constraints of a political campaign, Tillis spoke forcefully about Powell, denouncing the investigation by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a longtime Trump ally, as a “revenge prosecution” and suggesting that it threatens the Fed’s longstanding independence from day-to-day politics. Tillis told NBC that he had assurances from the Justice Department that he needed to “feel like they are not using the Department of Justice as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. Warsh to move forward with his confirmation.”
Reporters asked Trump on Saturday if things were going smoothly for Wershe now that the Justice Department investigation had concluded. “I imagine it’s smooth sailing,” Trump said, adding that his nominee “would be great.” The president said he still wanted to know “how a building of this size could possibly cost… whatever it costs.”
Trump visited the Federal Reserve Bank building In July, in front of television cameras, he said the renovations would cost $3.1 billion. Powell, who was standing next to him, said after reviewing a paper presented to him by Trump that the president’s latest price was incorrect.
This investigation was among several conducted by the Justice Department into Trump’s perceived opponents. For months, it failed to gain traction as prosecutors struggled to articulate a basis for suspecting criminal conduct. Other efforts by the department to prosecute Trump’s opponents, including New York State Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, and former FBI Director James Comey, It was also unsuccessful.
Last month, a federal judge threw out subpoenas the Justice Department had issued to the Fed in the investigation, describing their purpose as “harassing Powell and pressuring him to resign” and opening the way for a new president. The prosecutor handling Powell’s case admitted in a closed court session that the government No evidence of a crime was found.
Pirro said Friday on X that she “will not hesitate to resume the criminal investigation if the facts justify doing so.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC on Sunday that “there’s no doubt that we will conduct an investigation” if the inspector general finds evidence of criminal conduct.
Warsh is a financier and former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Trump He was nominated in January.